Courses Taught

Musical Theatre Foundations

Musical Theatre History

Musical Theatre Techniques I and III

New Musical Laboratory

Background

Hailing from Los Angeles, Calif., Tracey Elaine Chessum, Ph.D, has taught music and theatre on all levels of education, winning awards for curriculum design and performance. She is equally active in the professional theatre realm, having worked as a director, producer, music director and conductor, and sound designer at theaters across the country.

Chessum holds a Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, and her theatrical scholarship focuses on musical theatre between 1880 and the First World War (with a particular focus on the comic operas of John Philip Sousa). She is, also, the founding Artistic Director of Pallas Theatre Collective in Washington, D.C., a company that is passionate about developing new works of musical theatre to ensure the continuance of America's great musical theatre tradition.